While there are many poker-type games that can be played on the Internet, practically all of them offer the same wagering options, and many of them are canned or preprogrammed. As racetracks have expanded their reach with off-track betting, casinos can dramatically increase revenues by enabling play online. While wagers can be placed on horse races in various racetracks around the country and the world online and in real time, such system are not available for other live play in the casino. U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,552 (Vuong) discloses a network based gaming system that enables a plurality of players to place wagers on a real-time game of chance being conducted in a casino via a distributed network system or, alternatively, to place wagers on a game of chance using internally generated game sequences. In the preferred embodiment of the system, a gaming machine provides a menu of a plurality of live-action board games of chance, such as roulette, craps or baccarat.
Many people enjoy poker but lack the skill or the bankroll to play in a high-profile game. Some people are uncomfortable in a crowded casino, particularly, alone prime time in the bigger casinos. The air is smoke-filled, heavy drinking is common, the crowds are shoulder to shoulder, people become separated, and space at gaming tables is rare.
Once gaming information is captured on current gaming activity, quality online play becomes a reality. Each online player directly enters his playing decisions (hi/lo, winning player or best cards, player, value) into the gaming computer through a keypad. Once the hand is completed, the gaming computer knows all relevant information about the game in progress. This information is used to provide the online player with historical information about the players and the game.
Poker is now the most popular card game because of television. On almost any evening, there is at least one poker tournament on cable television—usually “No-Limit Texas Hold'em.” In the No-Limit version of Texas Hold'em, any participating player can wager any portion of his chips at any time. There is also a Limit version of Texas Hold'em, where there are limits to the amount of the wager. The use of windows and cameras located in front of each player enables the game to be broadcast and the home viewer can watch each player as the cards are dealt each round.
Texas Hold'em is the most popular form of casino poker. It has been popularized by televised poker contests such as the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, which have brought many new players to the game. Texas Hold'em is easy to learn, but it boasts intricate strategy and requires practice, skill and cunning to play well. Yet, the lower limits of the game are forgiving enough to new players, and with a plethora of online poker rooms, it is very easy to learn and practice the game while wagering little or no money. Texas Hold'em is a community card game. Every player is dealt two cards face down, and then five community cards are dealt in the middle of the table. The five community cards may be used by every player.
“Community card poker” as used herein refers to any poker game that uses community cards, which are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt privately a plurality of “hole cards”, which are then combined with the community cards to make a poker hand. The set of community cards is called the “board”, and may be dealt in a simple line or arranged in a special pattern. Rules of each game determine how they may be combined with each player's private hand. In addition to Texas Hold'em, other community card poker games include, but are not limited to, Omaha Poker, Iron Cross Poker, No River Hold'em Poker, Royal Hold'em, Double-board Hold'em, Double Hold'em, Pineapple, Crazy Pineapple, Tahoe Hold'em, Super Hold'em, Manila, Six-Pack, East Village, London Bridge, Tic Tac Toe, Pinatubo, Cincinnati, Chowaha, and Otis Elevator.